PHP F-PDF Scripting Possibilities

Question

I need to know if there is a way to either a) Prevent a PDF from being saved to a client's computer (disable the save button) or b) Script the PDF to open, print, then close with no user interaction.

I know this is a bit of a long shot, but I have to ask in case there is a way to do this. I am using F-PDF to create the pdf.

Thanks

Answer 1

This can never be possible. Once the client obtains the pdf they can do whatever they want with it. Who's to say that they are using an Adobe product? Who's to say that they are using a web browser to visit your site? There are open source pdf readers and someone could modify it to do whatever they want. There are bots that will mirror an entire domain. On a side note, every DRM every written has been broken, and they will always be broken.

Answer 2

A few ideas that came to mind that may be workaround solution:

• create a pdf that expires
• display the pdf content with flash. I believe slideshare.com do this to prevent slides from being downloaded.

Answer 3

My instinct is to just answer "no," but that is not that helpful.

However, this thread from ask.metafilter.com: disable Adobe PDF doc for edit, print & SAVE? may give you some ideas.

Answer 4

As a follow up to this, there is no good way to do this without spending the big bucks on an adobe solution.